Around the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, there was almost no line of defense anymore. Instead, there were several instructors and elders trying to figure out how to retrieve all the disciples inside. Indeed, even without Chief Elder Suxian, they had understood that the realms within were about to collapse. They had already tried to use the Supreme emblems but for some reason, they were not responding at all.
While they were still working on the matter, all hell was breaking loose in the Wubei Sect. Because the Palace of Supreme Wisdom was isolated and well protected, there was no fight there at the moment. But everyone was thinking about it. In fact, there was also an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia in the air. Although many demonic cultivators had attacked, no one could know for sure whether the person next to them was a traitor who would strike at the worst possible moment or a sincere fellow disciple.
Suddenly, they all felt a powerful energy coming toward the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. The blood javelin thrown by Luoming Tian had just pierced through the array formations. It had been so fast that no one had been able to see it, they had just perceived the perturbations in the Qi left behind. Everyone was a Mortal Warrior down there and most of them were array formation experts.
Not long after that, another surge of energy worried everyone as it was coming from the Palace of Supreme Wisdom itself. Many were afraid that the realms within were giving way. If that were the case, all the current third-years would die. In itself, this would be a huge blow to the Wubei Sect. This wasn't necessarily a catastrophe to lose less than a hundred inner disciples. But outer disciples were used to advertise the prestige of the sect since they often left after their five years.
On the other hand, this batch of disciples was particular because there were four direct disciples of chief elders.
Thankfully, the fear everyone had did not come to pass. Space broke open and Cao Yun walked forward with Ren Chao, Sun Liao and Mei Hua. They also had a woman tied up with them. As soon as they appeared, another part of space close to them broke open. From it, Mo Zi jumped toward freedom.
"Seize him!"
Sun Liao was the first to speak. He knew several of the instructors here. Thus, they did not hesitate at all. Although their cultivation was around Mo Zi's, he had just lost all his blood runes and was beyond exhausted. But more than Sun Liao's words, the mere fact that a fourth-year had been inside the Palace of Supreme Wisdom was proof enough that he was a demonic cultivator.
"Elder Zheng!"
Sun Liao had no time for any pleasantries. Several elders were dying to ask questions to the group. But as soon as they realized their condition, a few physicians came to them directly. Cao Yun was the one who worried them the most because they could clearly feel his Bai Hui being damaged. Such an injury was probably the worst thing that could happen to a young Mortal Warrior. This acupoint was essential to becoming a Spirit Warrior and healing it was incredibly difficult. However, it was still less difficult than to heal a Dantian. That being said, even with the best treatments, it would take some time and would impede Cao Yun in his cultivation. In fact, it was possible that he might never fully recover and be stuck in his cultivation.
The physicians also sensed many internal injuries in Ren Chao. But despite the damage, his bones were perfectly fine. Some of his muscles had ruptured and some of his nerves and tendons had also been destroyed and ripped apart. The pain had to be unbearable and yet there was not a trace of it on his face. Ren Chao was indeed the Mortal with the most powerful will. Cao Yun's mind cultivation was too complicated to him. Thus, he had solely focused on anything that could improve the point he was already good at, his indomitable will.
With this powerful will, Ren Chao had been able to understand everything the 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' was talking about concerning Zhi and how to train it. Besides, he had gained some new things in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. His bones had also become even more resistant as his physique had been further improved by 'Golden Saint Bones'.
Finally, Mei Hua was in a very good condition. And she asked the physicians to take care of the woman they had captured. Cao Yun really wanted to extract the seals from her and Mo Zi to make sure that they would be able to be interrogated and have their souls searched. But right now, he was not in any condition to do so. He had pushed way too far what his soul could sustain.
While the physicians were taking care of the group, Sun Liao got approached by the old man he had called forth. He was an elder he had frequently spoken with in the array formation pavilion.
"Elder Zheng, all our fellow disciples are trapped in there. Those bastards have collapsed all the realms in one so it's extremely unstable. I hoped to use my Supreme emblem to try and do something, but I've failed. This Meng Hanyi is a demonic cultivator calling himself Mo Zi. His master has given him a lot of knowledge about this place. Hopefully Spirit Master Xiao might find something useful before his master gets rid of him. And Master Suxian might be able to do something about our Wubei disciples."
Hearing Sun Liao's words, Elder Zheng had many expressions. One of which was hatred when he looked at Meng Hanyi. He had known the boy since he had entered into the Wubei Sect. Despite everything the sect had done for him, he was ready to kill their future... But when he heard the name of Chief Elder Suxian, he became pale. Of course, Sun Liao didn't know. He had no way of knowing...
The moment Sun Liao saw Elder Zheng's face turn pale, he understood something was not right.
Only then did it dawn on him that the sky was strange. Above them, there was a huge dome made of golden chains. And the light was also strange. It was as though the entire Wubei Sect was on fire. Unfortunately, it wasn't very far from the truth. A small percentage of the sect had revealed that they were traitors. Now that Demon God Da Mo's body had been brought back into the world, they did not fear being discovered anymore. Everyone else had to fear them now!
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Finally, Sun Liao saw the giant red arm in the middle of the sect. What the hell had happened around here?! Were the demons attacking?! Were the demonic cultivators working with the demons to begin with?!
The scene Sun Liao and his friends were contemplating reminded them of the paintings they had seen of Ancestor Wu when he had battled the last invasion attempt by the demons. Since then, no demon had ever dared to dream about invading from the Heidai Peak. But today the Heidai Peak was on fire...
With the urgency, Elder Zheng briefly explained that Luoming Tian, who had lost the right to be called chief elder, had betrayed the sect. He had mortally wounded Chief Elder Suxian and was now fighting both Xiao Xuefeng and Sect Leader Xuan.
The moment he heard about his master, Sun Liao went into a frenzy.
"What did he do?!" "Coward!" "What kind of poison?!" "Traitor!" "Where is my master?!"
Elder Zheng was taking aback by the light in Sun Liao's eyes and answered everything briefly. When he got the answers he needed, Sun Liao turned toward his brothers and sister. There was something he had seen in that Demon Palace that had given him a bit of hope. He wasn't sure he should discuss it here though. Thus, he stayed quiet and went in front of Cao Yun before putting his hands on his shoulders.
"Brother Chen, please come with me."
Several physicians were already taking care of him. They all started to protest but Cao Yun stood up. Even Mei Hua and Ren Chao came to stop him.
"Brother, you're insane. Your Bai Hui is damaged! It's maybe already beyond repair. If you don't rest, you might not only destroy your future, but also your very life."
"Brother Sun, I know you're in shock, but you're putting Brother Chen in danger! You're supposed to be the reasonable one!"
"Brother Chen." Sun Liao completely ignored everyone else. "My master's body has been overtaken by a poison that is related to demonic cultivators and their ways. Do you think that you could..."
Ren Chao was still in the dark, but Mei Hua had understood the idea behind Sun Liao's actions. Cao Yun had been able to take over all the blood runes from Mortal Warriors. His mastery over Evil Qi was extraordinary. In his hands, it appeared as though it was only pure Qi. Even her master, Xiao Xuefeng, was unable to do such a thing. Although she could also manipulate Evil Qi to an extent, she had to be careful with it. In fact, even demonic cultivators were being careful with it. For example, the blood runes were made of Evil Qi but contained within blood to protect the bodies of the practitioners.
Although she had understood, she still found it too dangerous to ask this of Cao Yun right now. He had to rest if he wanted to heal someday.
"Brother, I beg you!"
"Brother Sun...!"
Mei Hua was a bit enraged because Sun Liao was asking Cao Yun to risk his life. She understood the desire to save his master. Deep down, she was wondering if she would go to such lengths to protect her own master. And the truth was that she would. Sun Liao had completely abandoned his arrogance. This wasn't only because of his love and admiration for his master, but also out of respect for his brother. He knew precisely what he was asking him. Even if Cao Yun risked his life, there was no guarantee that he could save Chief Elder Suxian.
All the other physicians were in the dark. They were just trying to get Cao Yun to sit down. But he would not.
"Brother Sun, I'll do it!"
Within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, Dian Mo was full of joy. First of all, he had recognized the red arm in the distance. When his master had died, he had felt it in the drop of blood essence left behind. But when someone tried to revive his body, he had also felt it. Unfortunately, he knew that this would never bear fruit. Not only was his drop of blood essence trapped inside the Demon Palace, it was even lacking a soul. Demon God Da Mo had only left it behind in order to help his potential successor in case he would die. Neither Demon God Da Mo nor Dian Mo had had any illusion on him being revived through this blood. At best, it could have helped him get over a terrible injury, but not death. Only an Immortal Demon could pull off something like that.
Secondly, Cao Yun was ready to go risk his life once more. From what this Sun Liao kid had said, Dian Mo was certain he knew what kind of poison had been used. And if he was right, which he was, then apart from him, there was no one among the humans who could save his life. Well, the man who had found about this poison might be able to, but he was too busy controlling Da Mo's body. To be honest, Dian Mo didn't like that idea. Although he was just a spirit and not a real demon, Da Mo was his creator and seeing a copy of his body being defiled by a human was a bit painful.
Unaware of Dian Mo's machinations, Cao Yun accepted Sun Liao's plea. The physicians tried to dissuade the group but they asked Elder Zheng to lead them toward Chief Elders Qinghe and Suxian. Seeing the determination in their eyes, Elder Zheng agreed. The problem was that the physician pavilion was a bit too close to the fight. However, they had no choice. Chief Elder Suxian had to be treated with the best resources so he had to stay inside the physician pavilion. Besides, this pavilion was the most guarded one because it would serve to treat the wounded in case of emergency. Unless Luoming Tian targeted it specifically, it would not fall.
Hearing that the group wanted to go to the physician pavilion, the physicians who had been ordering them to stay put changed their attitude. Bringing them to Chief Elder Qinghe would solve the problem. If they refused to be treated, Chief Elder Qinghe would simply put them to sleep in an instant. And there, they could treat them with even more attention and care. Moreover, none of them were afraid of the nearby fight. Not only did they trust Sect Leader Xuan, but they had also taken an oath. Even in the worst crisis, they would risk their lives to save others.
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Finally, the group reached the physician pavilion. There was utter chaos there. The third-years saw many faces they were familiar with. Cao Yun even saw Liu Ang and Ling Hui. They recognized him of course, but they were too busy to talk to them. Everyone was working to fortify the physician pavilion. All the disciples helping out were Mortals. All the Mortal Warriors had been sent to fight against the traitors. Through the whispers, they heard that Zhi Yin was leading a group into battle. They had already killed half a dozen of traitors.
Chief Instructor Peng had also been sent to the battlefield. Because this was soon the end of the year, many disciples had come back to get ready but not all of them were here either, especially among the older ones.
Mei Hua tried to get some news about the servants. Liu Ang was able to tell her that Mei Ying and all the servants had been accounted for. They had all been brought to safety.
Ren Chao and Sun Liao also heard about Wang Mei and Long Huafang. Both women were also fighting like furies against the traitors. Wang Mei had a revenge to take on those who had perverted her former mistress and her best friend. On the other hand, Long Huafang had been raised in a military family so she was no stranger to battles. And the idea of having shared her life with traitors of the human race made her sick. One of the first rules in the army was to always protect your brothers in arms. Treason was deserving of the worst possible death!